Four communities, one delta

For the Khmer, the delta is home ground: the national newspaper's ethnic-groups section describes it as their heartland, with settlements inland, along the coast from Tra Vinh to Bac Lieu, and in the hills near the Cambodian border in An Giang and Kien Giang. Their faith is Theravada Buddhism, and the pagoda is the centre of village life: school, meeting place, home for monks and novices, and the setting for the festivals of Chôl Chnăm Thmây, Sene Dolta and Ok Om Bok.

In Soc Trang you can visit pagodas such as Kh'leang, the Bat pagoda, Sa Lon and Som Rong; near Tra Vinh, Chua Ang beside the Ao Ba Om pond. See the Soc Trang and Ben Tre coast pages.

The delta has its own Cham Muslim communities, around Chau Doc. The national tourism authority points visitors to the villages of Chau Giang and Chau Phong across the Hau River, with their mosques and stilt houses. The Mubarak mosque there was first built in 1750 and rebuilt in 1922, and is the only mosque in An Giang ranked a national relic. Some Cham villages, such as Da Phuoc, have hosted visitors as community tourism since 1992.

See the Chau Doc page.

At a Khmer pagoda

• Cover shoulders and knees; remove shoes before entering a hall
• Do not touch monks or hand things directly to a monk if you are a woman; ask your guide how to offer something
• Ask before photographing monks, novices or ceremonies; accept a no
• Leave a donation in the box if you wish; do not hand money to children

At a mosque

• Long sleeves and long trousers or skirts for everyone; a headscarf for women in prayer areas
• Avoid prayer times, especially Friday midday; your guide will check
• Do not enter the prayer hall unless invited
• Ask before photographing people, and especially women

In a village or at a farm

• Go with a guide who has asked in advance; do not walk into yards uninvited
• Buy something or pay the agreed contribution rather than handing out gifts
• Ask questions as questions, not judgements: "Why did you choose this?" rather than "Isn't that bad?"
• Remember that a family's time is the most valuable thing they give you

We do not run trips centred on staying with a family, and we do not stage performances for visitors. The meetings on our trips are conversations during people's ordinary working day, arranged and paid for fairly.